21 Invaluable Chrome Apps for WordPress Users and Web Designers

Whether you’re creating a logo, planning a website’s design, or just sharing a file, the right tools can save you both time and money. One exciting but often overlooked group of tools are Chrome Apps. Unlike extensions, which only extend your browser’s functionality, Chrome Apps are fully fledged applications that run within Google Chrome, and also on Chrome OS.

The range of tasks you can accomplish with Chrome Apps is impressive. However, finding the solution for your particular needs among the wealth of apps available in the Chrome store can be overwhelming. To help you, we’ve sorted through a huge array of Chrome Apps to bring you 21 of most useful for web designers and WordPress users.

21 Invaluable Chrome Apps for WordPress Users and Web Designers

Here at Elegant Themes, we’re always looking for tools to up our web design and WordPress game. In the post below, you’ll find the 21 Chrome Apps that are (in our opinion) the best for anyone working with WordPress or design websites.

To pick these apps, we focused on three key factors:

Reviews: An app had to have at least four stars to make the list.

Functionality: It had to solve a compelling problem.

Relevance: The app had to be particularly useful to WordPress users and web designers.

You’re probably already aware of Google Drive – it’s an effective solution for storing and managing files across multiple devices. The Google Drive Chrome App gives you all the functionality of the desktop version, but it also enables you to access and edit your Docs, Sheets, and Slides offline.

This is very handy if you’re going to work or travel somewhere without a steady internet connection, but still need to edit assets for your website.

If you’re in the market for an image editor, but don’t want to shell out the money for Photoshop, Pixlr Editor is a powerful solution.

We’ll be honest – it’s no substitute for Photoshop, but it can complete most of the basic graphic creation and image editing tasks that WordPress users and web designers do on a daily basis. Overall, it’s a good workhorse Chrome App for editing images.

If you’re looking for a code editor, Codeanywhere is a Chrome App you should check out. It includes all of the functionality you’d expect of any code editor, including syntax highlighting and support for large, multi-file projects.

Give Codeanywhere a try if you’re learning to code, or just want to try an alternative for your web design and WordPress projects.

Todoist for Chrome is an elegant, intuitive task management app. It’s perfect for keeping track of all your web design and WordPress tasks and projects. There’s also a mobile app available to complement the Chrome App.

If you use Gmail for any of your WordPress or web design projects, you’ve probably experienced the frustration of being unable to access project briefs or other important info from clients due to a poor internet connection.

With Gmail Offline, you can avoid this frustration. Once installed, the app saves all of your Gmail messages for offline viewing, and automatically sends the messages you’ve composed once you find an internet connection.

Key Features:

Ability to search and archive messages.

Fast, responsive interface.

Automatically syncs your messages whenever it connects to the internet.

Hootsuite is a tool that helps you schedule and analyze your social media posts. When paired with a properly curated WordPress site, Hootsuite will enable you to drive additional traffic to your posts. Whether it’s for your own site or a client’s, this is a Chrome App that’s not to be missed.

WeVideo is a Chrome App that lets you edit and export videos. While it won’t replace robust desktop options, it offers enough functionality for the most common video editing tasks.

If you only need to occasionally perform basic video edits, this is an app worth investigating. WeVideo also integrates with Google Drive, which means that all of your video files can be stored safely in the cloud, rather than take up space on your hard drive.

Pocket is a Chrome App that lets you save articles and web pages for offline reading. It strips out all of the superfluous elements, leaving you with a distraction-free web page.

Pocket helps you to keep your digital workspace decluttered, since it lets you avoid having dozens of unread articles open at once. This leaves you with more time and focus for your web design and WordPress projects.

TrackingTime offers a solution to the problem of tracking your employee’s time. It lets you easily coordinate and review tracking across a large number of employees. If your WordPress or web design business is more than just a one-person operation, this could prove invaluable.

Send Anywhere is a Chrome App for hassle-free file transfers. There are no restrictions on file size and location; all you need is an internet connection. If you’re working on a project requiring file transfers that are too large for email, Send Anywhere is the solution.

Writer is an app that lets you type in a beautiful, distraction-free environment. This is perfect if you struggle to write your articles amidst the many digital distractions that exist. With Writer, you can fully immerse yourself in the article writing process.

Pomodoro Timer is a Chrome App that aids you in using the popular Pomodoro productivity technique, in which you work in 25-minute intervals with five-minute breaks in between.

The Pomodoro technique is a powerful tool for defeating procrastination, and this app makes it even easier. Used correctly, you can get to work on those important web design and WordPress projects you keep putting off.

Chrome Remote Desktop is an app that lets you access the computer of anyone running the Chrome browser or operating system. This is a perfect solution for being able to look at a client’s site as they see it, or help a colleague with a design issue when you can’t be in the same room.

Web Server for Chrome is a tool that lets you serve web pages over a local network. If you’re doing web development on a Chromebook, or just need an easy solution for sharing files over a local network, Web Server for Chrome could be the solution.

Sketchpad 3.5 is a Chrome App designed for sketching and drawing. If you’re in the early stages of a web design or WordPress project, it can be helpful to do some free-form sketching. Sketchpad 3.5 lets you do all of this from within Chrome.

Sketching out your rough design is often followed by a wireframing stage. Gliffy Diagrams is the perfect tool for this process. You can also use it to create diagrams that map user experience and site functionality.

Awesome Screenshot App lets you capture and annotate screenshots from within Chrome, then save these screenshots locally or to Google Drive. If you need to add screenshots to your website, Awesome Screenshot App is an effective solution.

Working in WordPress, web design, or on any computer-based task means a lot of time staring at a screen. If you’re not careful, all of the time focusing on such a narrow area can harm your vision. Eye Care is a Chrome App that helps you to combat this problem by reminding you to take a break and rest your eyes periodically.

Conclusion

Chrome Apps present an array of exciting solutions to the challenges that web designers and WordPress users face every day. Whether it’s editing video, creating a diagram, or writing code, there’s a Chrome App available to help you complete the task efficiently.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the huge number of Chrome Apps out there, but now that you’ve read this post, you should have no trouble choosing the Chrome Apps best suited to your next project. With the right solutions in your toolbox, you’ll be fully prepared to address whatever project comes your way.

How do you use any of these Chrome Apps to improve your WordPress or web design workflow? Subscribe to the conversation and let us know in the comments section below!